Promobot keeps taking over functions at Sberbank
The robot now consults clients of Sberbank’s non-state pension fund.
Robots continue to take over various roles at Sberbank, with their latest job being consultation of clients of Sberbank NPF (Non-State Pension Fund).
The company explains that Promobot is capable of carrying out the entire cycle of client servicing on its own – from the initial consultation to the signing of the contract. The robots will first be interns at Sberbank NPF and then will commence work at Sberbank’s other departments and will assist bigger corporate clients of the bank.
Promobot v.3 uses a sophisticated technology for face recognition and can consult several clients simultaneously. Thanks to a technology based on neural networks, the robot is capable of answering questions and of orientating on its own in a flood of information that is uploaded in its database.
Regarding the threat that robots pose for the jobs of human employees at the bank, the most recent comments of Herman Gref – CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Rossii PAO (MCX:SBER), are somewhat positive. On Thursday, RIA Novosti quoted Mr Gref as saying that the robotization was advancing but that it would not lead to swift massive layoffs at the bank. He noted that the process of robotization cannot be stopped but added that this process is gradual and will allow the employees to change qualifications if necessary.
In June this year, Mr Gref said the number of employees in back office roles at the bank will be reduced 12 times by 2021. And in November this year, he confirmed that more than 30 branches had been robotized and further 100 branches that deal with cash were set to undergo automatization.
Robotization is affecting human jobs at other banks too. In October this year, for instance, Nordea Bank‘s CEO Casper von Koskull said the bank was almost two years into a transformation shift, involving investments made in technology, such as the core banking platform, digital banking and IT remediation. The next phase of the transformation includes cutting costs and increasing efficiency, so reducing the number of employees and consultants with at least 6,000 of which approximately 2,000 are consultants is in store, Casper von Koskull said.
Featured Image Credit: Sberbank NPF.
